Jessica Loudis’s question about good late night food in Fort Greene-Clinton Hill just got another answer. Sans Souci, a new Jamaican-fusion restaurant on Myrtle Avenue, very close to Fort Greene Park, is open for dining until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, and until 2 a.m. every other night.

Their full menu is available for delivery until 10 p.m. weeknights and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. However, Sans Souci is more than a late-night dining spot. It is at once a sports pub, a top shelf Caribbean-themed bar with more than 40 Carib-themed cocktails on the menu and home to a top Jamaican-American chef. On the menu are 21 appetizers, 17 sides and 29 entrees, ranging from $7.50 to $22.

I ate at Sans Souci earlier this month, on a Sunday night. Although I was there for more than an hour, we were the only patrons. Chef-owner Basil Jones, who did not know that I was reviewing his restaurant, was seated at the bar and welcomed us warmly.

Roisin WisneskiSans Souci could become the kind of place where everybody knows your name.

Once we settled in, the first thing I noticed were the televisions. Four in all, all with the Jets game at a moderate volume. The usual T.V. fare is sports, music videos (by Beyoncé and R. Kelly) and movies, we were told. The décor was also very casual, with potted Poinsettia plants resting in plastic take-out containers next to our table.

Our server was friendly and told us that she had tried almost everything on the menu, and it was all “amazing.” She hadn’t, however, tried the first two things that we asked about, the Soca Shrimp Delight or the Kingfish Run-Down. She did answer all culinary queries, either from firsthand knowledge or by checking with the kitchen.

We ordered:

Appetizer: Codfish cakes, served with a mild avocado salsa, $5

Lightly battered, crisp and not greasy at all — however, the mild avocado salsa seemed a bit out of place. With a guacamole-type consistency, it was a bit thick to be a dipping sauce, and the avocado flavor overpowered the cod. Chef Jones said that he has tried to pair these cakes with tartar sauce, and customers demanded the avocado sauce. During a post-meal chat, I suggested that it might work better with the sweet pineapple chili sauce from our seafood entrée, and he said he would think about it. Cool!

Our waitress smiled when we ordered the Rasta Pasta, and we were all smiles upon receiving it. The pasta was al dente and creamy, and the jerk chicken was at once tender and perfectly blackened. We thought the jerk chicken wasn’t spicy, and the waitress happily brought over two hot sauces: a Scotch bonnet HOT sauce, and a Tabasco-like sauce that tasted a bit like Robitussin.

Entrees came with fried sweet plantains, steamed cabbage and a choice of one of the following: rice and peas, white rice or turned cornmeal. We chose the turned cornmeal, which our waitress described as “kind of like polenta, but a bit spicier.”

The portion was generous, and the shrimp was perfectly cooked. The sauce was balanced — neither pineapple-sweet, nor chili-hot. The turned cornmeal didn’t have much texture and was flavorless; the only real purpose it served was “as a vehicle for the sauce,” as my dining companion put it. The fried sweet plantains were firmer than the maduros that I am used to.

I had a special affinity for this dish, because the plantains, cabbage and cornmeal all on one plate brought back many memories of growing up in a Puerto Rican-Irish-Polish-American household. However, it ended up being a bit neglected in favor of the tastier Rasta Pasta.

**

Side:Macaroni and cheese (all sides $3)

I am a macaroni and cheese aficionado, and more often than not I like all interpretations of it. This mac, however, was presented as though pressed from a Tupperware mold. It was a bit oily, and the elbows were a bit overcooked. I inquired about the cheeses used, and our waitress found out from the kitchen that mozzarella and sharp cheddar were used. For $3, it was a generous portion, but it was not a macaroni and cheese that I will crave.

**

Cocktail:J’Can Rum, made with homemade ginger beer and rum. ($9)

I am a sucker for all things “homemade” on menus, so I had to try this cocktail. I asked for a shot of the ginger beer, so I could evaluate it on its own, and a new batch was prepared just for my drink. It was excellent, with the perfect balance of ginger zing, a mild sweetness and very light carbonation. I am glad that I tried it alone, because some of the subtlety was lost when paired with the rum for the cocktail.

The desserts were a chocolate layer cake and chocolate/vanilla ice cream. Neither offering was made in-house, and we were quite full, so we passed.

This was more than enough for three people, and there were only two of us. My boyfriend Nick reported that the leftovers made an excellent lunch to bring to law school.

On our way out, Mr. Jones was again seated at the bar. He was very interested to know what we thought of everything that we tried. I made a sauce suggestion and he said he would consider it.

We learned that Mr. Jones worked in several Manhattan and Brooklyn restaurants, most recently Footprints in East Flatbush, before opening Sans Souci about a month ago.

“It’s a nice feeling, to be able to do it for yourself. The hours are long — last night we were here until 4 a.m. — but it is a dream that I have always had,” he said. The name for Sans Souci came from a restaurant in northwest Jamaica where he worked as a chef, Mr. Jones said. “I always told them that one day I was going to start my own restaurant and name it Sans Souci. It means ‘without a care’”.

He proposed his recommended courses for a return visit, and asked me to let him know I was there so he could send me something from the kitchen. (All this without knowing that I was covering this for The Local.)

Bottom Line: Excellent food, expansive menu, reasonable prices. It seems like it will be the kind of neighborhood place “where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.” The casual décor and T.V. noise may put off some diners looking for a date spot, but it is recommended for anyone looking for great Carib food and, yes, Jessica, late-night dining.

I ate here recently and while I agree the food was fantastic, the service friendly, the staff knowledgeable, the ambiance was awful.

None of the tables were set. It was as though they didn’t expect anyone to actually come and eat there. We were the only ones in there for the better part of our stay. It was weird, and it made you think you were in some third-rate place, and the food was going to be bad. It’s to Chef Jones’ credit just how good the food was. He also came out to say hello to us, which was a nice touch. But they need to get some artwork on the walls (I am sure that in this neighborhood, there’s no dearth of artists who’d love to have their work displayed there, and for sale) or at least paint something on them.

And get rid of the flat screens! Who wants to dine to old Santana video, followed by Madonna? Please: TVs only at the bar. One of them.

Soooo…I came in for the first time yesterday and ordered the brown stew red snapper to take out. I also ordered the curry chicken for a friend of mine.There was a very friendly and informative woman there named Marion, that made me feel very comfry as I waited for my order. The red snapper was truly delicous and I did something that I have never done with a whole fish before… I ate the whole thing, head and all! Well,it is the following day and I just called for a delivery. I am trying the Ragga Pasta and Ackee&Salt fish. I am looking so forward to trying another dish. Mmmmmm!!!!

About the Local

The Local provides news, information, entertainment and informed conversation about the things that matter to you, your neighbors and your family, from bloggers and citizens who live, work and create in your community. It is run by students and faculty of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to assure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards.

Get news about Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in our daily roundup, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s summer slate of youth-oriented programs and the third annual Art of Brooklyn Film Festival coming to St. Joseph’s College in Clinton Hill.

In today’s daily post, you’ll find news on the spring opening of the Fort Greene Artisan Market, a Pratt Institute student artwork display at a Gagosian Gallery in Manhattan and a new recording studio in the nabe.

In this crime report, locals told police that their belongings were stolen from cars and trucks, their homes were burglarized and their bank accounts were used in unauthorized ways. Also, disputes between significant others resulted in violence and robberies last week. The trend of robberies on the B38 bus continued last week, with another incident on May 4 marking the tenth such robbery in the precinct this year so far.

How Does Your School Stack Up?

Find test scores and other performance data for your East Village school -- and how the numbers compare to peer schools throughout the state.